Yemeni Navy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Yemeni Navy and Coastal Defence Forces
القوات البحرية اليمنية والدفاع الساحلي
patrol craft
3 Minesweeper
5 landing craft
Engagements
Commanders
Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Navy
Lieutenant General Sagheer Hamoud Aziz
Insignia
Flag of the Yemeni Navy

The Yemeni Navy and Coastal Defence Forces is the maritime component of the

Yemeni Armed Forces. Yemen
's navy was created in 1990 when North and South Yemen united.

Yemen early on had problems with trying to keep drugs from entering Yemen by sea. In 2006, Yemen purchased 10 Bay-class patrol boats which were very effective at stopping smugglers from entering Yemen. The Bay patrol craft currently under construction are, however, for the

Yemeni Coast Guard
, not the Yemeni Navy. Likewise, the 10 Austal Patrol Craft belong to the Coast Guard, not the Navy.

Tarantul I
class

In the Hanish Islands Crisis, Yemen prepared its navy for an assault on the Hanish Islands and on Eritrea. Eritrea accidentally destroyed a Russian ship, thinking it was a Yemeni ship. The invasion, however, never happened since Eritrea made agreements with Yemen.

History

1990 merger

In 1990, on the

Osa class missile boats, 8 T43-class minesweepers and 1 Ropucha-class landing ship
, all of which were transferred to the Yemeni Navy.

Yemen early on had problems with trying to keep drugs from entering Yemen by sea. In 2006, Yemen purchased 10 Bay-class patrol boats which were very effective at stopping smugglers from entering Yemen. The Bay patrol craft currently under construction are, however, for the Yemeni Coast Guard, not the Yemeni Navy. Likewise, the 10 Austal Patrol Craft belong to the Coast Guard, not the Navy. The navy's major bases are located in Aden and Al Hudaydah. There are also bases on Socotra, Al Mukalla and Perim island, which maintain naval support equipment. There is also a naval fortress under construction in Al Hudaydah. In the Hanish Islands Crisis, Yemen prepared its navy for an assault on the Hanish Islands and on Eritrea. Eritrea accidentally destroyed a Russian ship, thinking it was a Yemeni ship. The invasion, however, never happened since Eritrea made agreements with Yemen which involved Eritrea taking over the islands. Yemen, however, later took over Zuqar Island, which created further tensions with the Eritrean government but did not lead to another war.

Yemeni Civil War

Since the outbreak of the civil war in Yemen in March 2015, at least some elements of the Navy are known to have sided with the

C-802 were named "Al Mandab-1", claiming it as an original Yemeni design and production. The Saudi tanker ship Boraida was targeted without reporting damage.[2] In October 2016, with US Navy vessels patrolling the area in support to their Saudi allies, Yemeni forces fired about a dozen cruise missiles at them on three different days. In response, the USS Nitze launched five Tomahawk cruise missiles and knocked out three Yemeni maritime radar sites.[3]
The Saudi Air force also flew airstrikes and destroyed another Yemeni Radar station. Since then, lacking shore based battery radars, the Yemeni Navy begun deploying speedboats and the remaining fast missile craft to approximately track Saudi coalition shipping.

Naval Equipment

Yemeni Navy
Class Type Ships Origin Quantity Notes
Corvette
Tarantul I
Corvette  Soviet Union 2
Missile boat
Osa
Missile boat  Soviet Union 8 5 transferred from former South Yemen Navy.
Fast attack craft
Type 037
Missile boat  China 3
Sana'a
Patrol craft  United States 2
Yemen Ministry of Defense 37.5 meters Patrol craft  Australia 10
Minesweeper
Natya
Minesweeper  Soviet Union 1
Yevgenya
Minesweeper  Soviet Union 5
Landing craft
Polnocny class landing ship
Landing craft  Poland 3
Utility landing craft Landing craft 4

References

  1. ^ "Defending Yemen's Coast".
  2. ^ "Yemen's Houthi Rebels Have Missiles That Could Sink a Navy Warship". 18 September 2019.
  3. ^ "UAE Navy vessel on fire after Houthi attack off Yemen". 14 June 2018.